Government flags priority intervention need in 25 of 58 tiger reserves with low, absent tigers

Sariska, which at present has 56 tigers, had lost all its big cats in the mid-2000’s because of poaching and habitat loss, and it was the first time tigers were moved from another reserve to repopulate a habitat.

The Centre identified 25 tiger reserves across the country as “potential recipient sites” — reserves with the ecological potential to hold tigers but where populations are currently absent, critically low or in decline, and which now need targeted, science-led intervention to recover.

Of these, some like Satkosia (Odisha), Kawal (Telangana), Dampa and Kamlang (both in the Northeast), Buxa (West Bengal), have zero tigers. The reasons vary by region but a few recurring problems have emerged like low prey abundance, cited for nearly every reserve on the list. Fragmented connectivity with source populations compounds this constraint in reserves such as Ranipur, Achanakmar, Kali, and Mukundara Hills, cutting them off from the dispersing tigers that would otherwise repopulate them naturally.

However, Project Tiger officials as well as Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav cautioned that community participation and interface is a must before reintroductions.

Project Tiger head Sanjay Kumar cited the failed translocation at Odisha’s Satkosia Tiger Reserve and said it served as an important lesson to take the local communities into confidence and consult them. Yadav also said that factors such as prey base augmentation, community participation, and continuous monitoring are crucial for reintroduction success.

Since 2008, India has undertaken scientifically designed tiger recovery interventions across 12 landscapes: Sariska, Panna, Sanjay Dubri, Mukundara Hills, Satkosia, Veerangana Durgavati, Rajaji, Ramgarh Vishdhari, Navegaon–Nagzira, Madhav, Sahyadri and Similipal Tiger Reserves.

In Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand belt, Indravati, Udanti-Sitanadi, Guru Ghasidas-Tamor Pingla and Palamau, LWE disrupted protection efforts for years, compounding habitat degradation and encroachment.

In the Northeast, reserves like Dampa, Kamlang and Namdapha face naturally low prey densities, rugged terrain and historical hunting pressure.

Recovery in these low tiger occupancy areas is not possible, though, without strong source population areas, the Centre noted in its report. It cited 13 tiger reserves, including Bandipur, Kanha, Ranthambore, Corbett, where tiger density, prey base and habitat are all in good condition. Tigers from these habitats are routinely dispersed to other areas.

Corbett alone holds around 260 tigers, among the highest density in India.

The roadmap recommends these source reserves be protected as priorities in their own right through sustained anti-poaching effort, secured dispersal corridors, and stronger human-tiger conflict management for the territorial divisions surrounding them. Any future supplementation or reintroduction into the 25 recovery sites, the document stresses, must be backed by rigorous scientific assessment of genetics, demographics and habitat suitability rather than simple translocation of animals.

The roadmap points to earlier successes — Sariska in Rajasthan and Panna in MP, both lost their tiger populations entirely before being repopulated through sustained reintroduction and monitoring.

(The author was in Alwar at the invitation of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change)